“Have some wine,” the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.
Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. “I don’t see any wine,” she remarked.
“There isn’t any,” said the March Hare.
“Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,” said Alice angrily.
“It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited,” said the March Hare.
—Alice in Wonderland- Chapter 7, A Mad Tea-Party
“When we were little,” the Mock Turtle went on at last, …." we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle—we used to call him Tortoise—”
“Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?” asked Alice.
“We called him Tortoise because he taught us,” said the Mock Turtle angrily. “Really you are very dull!”
And how many hours a day did you do lessons?” asked Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
“Ten hours the first day,” said the Mock Turtle: “nine the next, and so on.”
“What a curious plan!” exclaimed Alice
“That’s the reason they’re called lessons,” the Gryphon remarked: “because they lessen from day to day.”
— Alice in Wonderland- Chapter 9, The Mock Turtle’s Story
In the above exchange, the March Hare sounds irrational until he lands his point about Alice's incivility. In the case of the Mock Turtle whose words initially do not make sense to Alice, it turns out Alice is in fact the peculiar one, as the Mock Turtle’s use of words are apparently sensible within his community. There is after all, method in the madness of the March Hare and sense in the nonsense of the Mock Turtle.
The book Alice in Wonderland features several eccentric characters whom Alice initially considers herself “smarter or better than” until Alice discovers she may not be so different, or as distinguished from them as she might have thought. To use an East African proverb as an analogy, “This is like the case of the gorilla who finds the bald spot on the backside of another gorilla hilarious … until he catches a reflection of his own backside in the stream!”
So What?
First, we may be more alike than we might think, and the seemingly outlandish may be more regular than we might at first imagine. In judging “oddity”, we would do well to first look inward and ensure our judgment does not signal either our own insufficient self-reflection or our limited exposure to the realities of others who are different from us.
The emphasis of my musings is, however, that the quirkiness of the March Hare and the Mock Turtle bring the all-important issue of mental wellness into closer focus. Once upon a time, mental illness was an ailment associated with “odd behaviour”, and which, seemingly, only a few unlucky individuals struggled with. In recent years, the lingering effects of the almost-forgotten global pandemic, economic concerns, socio-political dissensions, concerning international political instability and other large-scale matters have been added to common personal, family, and work-related stressors, thus expanding, and bringing the mental wellness conversation to the fore.
Mental wellness among Legal Practitioners
Lawyers practice in high-conflict, deadline-driven and emotionally charged situations. When they are not engaging with clients, legal practitioners can spend solitary, mentally challenging hours preparing documents, developing case strategy, or preparing for court, while bearing the fate of their clients in mind. Unfortunately, with legal work, documents delivered to a client and court appearances cannot fully capture or convey to the client the extent of the lawyer's time, efforts, mental energy, and emotional output on their matter. Legal practitioners thus face situations where they expend considerable time and energy on a file; receive unfavourable results on that file; and must deal with dissatisfied clients, ignoring their own mental state.
The National Study on the Psychological Health Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada conducted by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada indicates that legal practitioners across all jurisdictions and areas of practice in Canada suffer from significantly elevated levels of psychological distress, depression, anxiety, burnout, and suicidal ideation.
Bringing it Home
As with Alice, the March Hare, and the Mock Turtle, it is often easier to identify when things are out of place in others than in ourselves. Signs of mental unwellness are often more noticeable in others. The wisdom of the March Hare and the Mock Turtle is to be self-aware, and in this case, to be alive to the state of one’s mental health and take appropriate steps for one’s mental wellbeing. Personally, I have found the following tips beneficial for my mental wellness: unapologetically enjoying family, friends, and good food; attempting attainable amounts of exercise on a consistent basis; embracing humor; creating time to rest, and Faith.
As with matters of health, assistance outside of oneself may be required. (There is also a word to be said for being one’s brother's keeper). The Law Society’s Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) program offers free, confidential daily personal assistance and general wellness and mental health resources to Saskatchewan lawyers, articling students, law students, eligible family members and judges. As we look forward to spring, let us consider the wisdom of the March Hare and the Mock Turtle, turn the mirror inwards, and take care of our mental health.
Foluke Laosebikan, K.C. is a sole practitioner with F L K Law Firm, Melfort, Saskatchewan. www.flklaw.ca